Humboldt Penguin

Humboldt Penguin

Birds

SCIENTIFIC CLASSIFICATION

COMMON NAME:

Humboldt penguin, Peruvian penguin

KINGDOM:

Animalia

PHYLUM:

Chordata

CLASS:

Aves

ORDER:

Sphenisciformes

FAMILY:

Spheniscidae

GENUS SPECIES:

Spheniscus humboldti

FAST FACTS

DESCRIPTION:

Like other temperate penguins, Humboldt penguins have bare patches of skin around their eyes and at the base of the bill. They also lack feathers on their legs. They have one black stripe across the base of their chest.

SIZE:

56 to 66 cm (22-26 in.)

WEIGHT:

4 kg (9 lb.)

DIET:

Anchovetta (small fish)

INCUBATION:

40 to 42 days

SEXUAL MATURITY:

2 to 7 years old

LIFE SPAN:

15 to 20 years

RANGE:

Islands off western South America, and along the coasts of Peru and Chile

HABITAT:

Burrow and create nesting sites in guano deposits on islands or along rocky shores.

POPULATION:

GLOBAL

3,300 to 12,000 mature individuals

STATUS:

IUCN

Vulnerable

CITES

Appendix I (endangered)

USFWS

Not listed

FUN FACTS

1.

Studies have found that adult Humboldt penguins travel long distances between feeding and breeding grounds.

2.

Humboldt penguins were named for the German scientist, Alexander Von Humboldt, who explored Cuba, Mexico, and South America in 1799.

ECOLOGY AND CONSERVATION

Significant threats to Humboldt penguins include overfishing of prey species, drowning in gill nets, guano harvesting, human interference, and El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) events. The 1982-83 ENSO caused a 65% depletion of the Humboldt population off the coast of Peru. The population partially recovered, but subsequently plummeted again during the 1997-98 El Niño event.

SeaWorld San Diego is a “Participating Institution” in the Species Survival Plan (SSP) for Humboldt penguins. The SSP is a captive propagation and management program to preserve, in zoos and aquariums, selected species — most of which are threatened or endangered in the wild.

All 18 penguin species are legally protected from hunting and egg collecting. The Antarctic Treaty of 1959 makes it illegal to harm, or in any way interfere with, a penguin or its eggs. Every penguin specimen collected with a permit must be approved by and reported to the Scientific Committee for Antarctic Research (SCAR). Penguins are vulnerable to habitat destruction, overfishing of primary food sources, ecological disasters such as oil spills, pollution such as trash in the ocean, and human encroachment into nesting areas.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

BirdLife International (2006) Species factsheet: Spheniscus humboldti. Downloaded from birdlife.org